From the Palantir! (A Fantasy News Round-Up)

Posted on 15 October 2009 by Brent Hartinger, Editor

Anyone remember Bored of the Rings, Harvard Lampoons 1969 parody of the Tolkien novels? (I remember it well!). Well, on November third, they’re publishing their first parody novel in 40 years, Nightlight, a lampoon of the Twilight novels.

Terry Gilliam says he’s never getting an Oscar. He’s right, which is kinda the problem with the whole “this-is-the-best-because-it-won-an-Oscar” argument.

Variety’s review of Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. It’s decidedly mixed: “The film achieves a feel that is at once coarse-grained and elegant, antiquated and the height of fashion. That said, individual scenes often go off in irritatingly self-indulgent directions.” This worries me, because this is what I dislike about all of Anderson’s films: visual elegance, but an indifference, even a hostility, to plot.

Speaking of beloved kids’-books-turned-into-movies, I’ve made my feelings known on Where the Wild Things Are (hated it). But this article reminds me just how many truly terrible such movie adaptations there are: The Cat in the Hat, The Grinch That Stole Christmas, The Golden Compass, Jumanji, Prince Caspian, The Polar Express, James and the Giant Peach, Stuart Little, and Inkheart. (Oh, Lord, I hated The Polar Express!) These movies were much better, IMHO, but still disappointing: Matilda, The Indian in the Cupboard, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (both versions, but Tim Burton’s was worse), and Horton Hears a Who. What have I loved? The Neverending Story, Bridge to Terabithia, The Wizard of Oz, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. (I’m not quite sure where I’d put Coraline, which was really interesting, but flawed.) Anyway, Hollywood has a pretty bad batting average, don’t they?

Warwick Davis “tweets” the story of how Harry Potter’s Flitwick came to look different: “So many of you have asked me the ‘New look Flitwick’ question, so I will answer it here, once and for all. When it came time to shoot ‘Azkaban‘, there was no mention of ‘Flitwick” in the script. However, the producer still wanted me to be in the movie so he asked if I would play the role of ‘Choir Master’. Of course, I said ‘yes’. When it came time to shoot ‘Goblet of Fire‘ the director, Michael Newell said he liked the look of the choir master, and from that moment, the character became known as ‘Flitwick’. And that’s all there is to it. Not that interesting really, is it?”

Robbie Coltrane, who plays Hagrid, dreads the end of the Harry Potter movie series: “I’m no George Clooney. I certainly don’t have to beat a path to the breakfast table every morning through a mountain of scripts.”

So, thanks to DVRs and online viewing, the overnight ratings for television shows are now “adjusted” to take account for viewership that takes place up to three days after a show’s airing. Is anyone else as fascinated as I am by the fact that, on a percentage basis, the show’s that are having the biggest adjustment are all sci-fi: Dollhouse, Fringe, and Heroes? Whaddaya know? Sci-fi folks are into technology!

Speaking of Dollhouse, don’t let the above post fool you. The ratings have been disastrous, and it will almost certainly be canceled. That said, Fox has committed to running all 13 new episodes, and has publicly announced that they (probably) won’t be canceling any shows this fall (which doesn’t mean, however, that they’ll be ordering any new eps of some of these shows, like Dollhouse).